Relatively soft and flexible compressible articles such as disposable diapers, catamenial pads, incontinent briefs and the like have entered widespread use in many parts of the world over the last 20-30 years. Many of these products are produced as continuous webs which are typically folded one or more times parallel to the direction of web travel as they travel through the converting lines in the machine direction and are ultimately cut from the web to form discrete single use articles. The discrete articles are typically folded at their midpoint, collected in stacks and inserted into paperboard or cardboard cartons or flexible bags while they are subject to little or no compression in a direction substantially parallel to their thickness.
In such circumstance, the dimensions of the paperboard or cardboard carton or flexible bag are generally determined by the number of discrete articles contained in the stack or stacks placed within the carton or bag.
Recent consumer purchasing trends in the disposable absorbent products field, particularly in the United States, have led to lower purchase frequencies with larger quantities of disposable absorbent products per purchase. Manufacturers have responded by continuing to increase the number of discrete articles contained within a single package, resulting in a number of jumbo packs containing relatively large quantities of disposable absorbent products such as baby diapers, e.g., 32, 44, 48, 64, 96, etc. Because of the bulk of the relatively low density flexible compressible articles in question, this has resulted in packages having high volume but low weight. This combination of high volume and low weight increases storage and handling costs for the manufacturer, rapidly exhausts the limited shelf space of the retailer, and detracts from the convenience of storage and use for the consumer.
In addition, the relatively large volume of package material required to house the disposable absorbent articles in an uncompressed condition must be disposed of when the package in question has been fully emptied. In the case of cartons, this requires further effort by the end user to crush or otherwise minimize the volume of the empty container before placing it in the trash.